Every day is a GIFT give someone your presence this Christmas

If you have living parents here is my advice if you no longer share the Christmas holiday with them

Barry Gipson
2 min readNov 28, 2023
“TIs the season when families need presence more than presents.

Make The Call, Not A DM Or Text

Technology has done good for several things in our current lives. Like connecting family, friends, and followers digitally around the globe. The human connection is the most important of all.

The holidays growing up always meant family time. Food, football, family, and friends. A time built for giving rather than receiving. In the physical.

Both of my parents are dead. Within a year’s time. The same apartment in Kennewick, WA between 2018–2109. My sister Cheryl at age 7. I was only 11. Death has chased me up onto the armchair of a loveseat.

It was a very hard time for me. My wife and children never saw me cry until I got the first call from my Father. Grace died in her sleep in the chair she watched TV in. My Father and I became closer as a result.

Not close enough. They died within feet of each other. In the fetal position. David was discovered on the floor just a foot away from her lazy boy chair.

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Barry Gipson

A Father, Dallas Cowboys, LA Lakers fan, and veteran sharing insights and more for the '24 NFL & NBA seasons. A pivot in content.